Lost in the pharmacy aisles? Save the trip inside with Curbside

Christopher Beezer exits the mall after picking up an order for a customer at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara. Curbside allows users to order goods at the mall and then pick them up outside.

Christopher Beezer exits the mall after picking up an order for a customer at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara. Curbside allows users to order goods at the mall and then pick them up outside.

Photo: James Tensuan, Special To The Chronicle

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Davit Heng, right, of Curbside picks up items for a customer at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Curbside allows users to buy goods at the mall and then pick them up outside. less

Davit Heng, right, of Curbside picks up items for a customer at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Curbside allows users to buy goods at the mall and then pick them up ... more

Photo: James Tensuan, Special To The Chronicle

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Christopher Beezer hands an order to a Curbside app user at the Westfield Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara.

Christopher Beezer hands an order to a Curbside app user at the Westfield Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara.

Photo: James Tensuan, Special To The Chronicle

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Christopher Beezer, top, exits the Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara after picking up an order for a Curbside customer, while, above, Davit Heng (left) of picks up items for a Curbside customer.

Christopher Beezer, top, exits the Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara after picking up an order for a Curbside customer, while, above, Davit Heng (left) of picks up items for a Curbside customer.

Photo: James Tensuan, Special To The Chronicle

Lost in the pharmacy aisles? Save the trip inside with Curbside

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Editor’s note: Here are five Bay Area startups worth watching this week.

Jaron Waldman remembers driving home after a late night at work and needing to stop at the store to pick up a few things. He’d go into any store he passed along the way, and try to find what he needed in an unfamiliar maze of aisles.

To make that detour less tedious for others, he co-founded Curbside — a service that allows shoppers to select items online or through a mobile app and pick them up at a retail location in under an hour.

While the app was initially designed for parents with young children who don’t want to get their kids out of the car to run errands, Waldman says it’s for anyone who is “time-starved.”

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Curbside is currently at more than 4,000 locations nationwide, and Waldman says there have been millions of Curbside pickups since the service started more than three years ago. Some of its business customers include CVS Pharmacy, Pizza Hut and Sephora (pick up is available only at select locations). Orders can come in through Curbside’s mobile app or a retailer’s website or app.

Last week, Yelp and Curbside announced a partnership to add a “Shop Now” button to restaurants and stores on the Yelp mobile app. This feature is already working for Pizza Hut and CVS Pharmacy locations that use Curbside, with more retailers to come.

Waldman said the partnership with Yelp allows people to make purchases through an app they probably have installed on their phone.

Curbside originally staffed retail locations with its own employees who would run into stores and pick up items, but now, most companies use Curbside’s e-commerce software to take orders and fill them themselves.

Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose is one of the few locations Curbside still staffs, according to Waldman. He said the company has 75 employees and a little over $40 million in funding.

Increasingly, retailers and restaurateurs have been looking to add delivery to their services. Curbside uses Uber and Postmates couriers to deliver for an additional fee, but Waldman believes that for most of the country, pickup orders are cheaper and faster.

With Curbside, there’s no markup or delivery fee — instead, the startup gets a small cut of the order price. Businesses also pay a monthly subscription for use of Curbside’s software.

For suburban commuters who pass retail locations on their way home, this makes pickup a logical choice, says Waldman. “They were going to be driving by anyways.”

What it does: An analytics software company that crunches large data sets into interactive graphics.

What happened: The company announced a partnership with Harvard University’s Center for Geographic Analysis, and another one with Chinese telecommunications-equipment maker Huawei.

Why it matters: Visualization tools like this help users understand the underlying information in enormous data sets. For example, researchers at Harvard plan to use MapD to analyze the U.S. National Water Model to improve water management and public safety.

What it does: Makes an Apple Watch app that measures heart rate and then charts the data. The company also conducted a study with UCSF to detect atrial fibrillation, a common heart arrhythmia that could cause a stroke.

What happened: The company measured its users’ heart rates during a recent “Game of Thrones” episode and published that data. Chief Technology Officer Johnson Hsieh also said the company plans to publish the results from the UCSF study in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

Why it matters: Mobile apps help people notice trends in their health, and adjust their lifestyles accordingly.

What happened: The company could not be reached for comment. It last raised money in January 2015, which suggests it might be in the market for more funding.

Why it matters: This is yet another product in the crowded space of fitness trackers and health care apps. However, as smartwatches have increased in popularity, growth in the fitness wearable space has slowed.

What it does: Builds cheap computers with apps and study tools already installed — with the goal of improving connectivity and access to information in emerging markets around the world.

What happened: Endless has started shipping “millions of units” to Southeast Asia and recently updated its funding numbers on Crunchbase, said CEO Matt Dalio.

Why it matters: “People are describing (the Internet) as a human need,” Dalio said. Affordable computers that come loaded with useful tools — such as a word processor and an encyclopedia — can be transformative for people in low-bandwidth areas, Dalio said.

Every week, The Chronicle and Crunchbase, a San Francisco firm that tracks key businesses in technology, analyze private Bay Area companies based on their financial backing, employees and activity on Crunchbase. We feature five that are moving up in the ranks. For more information on the companies: www.crunchbase.com